Banter with the Bishop
On Tuesday, 28th February, 2006 I had the privilege of meeting and talking to the Bishop of Chelmsford and I thought I’d give you all the low down.
As I go to St. Edward’s Church of England School, we have to attend church services with the school a few times a year. Tuesday was our Lent service and the Bishop came to join us at St. Edwards Church in Romford Marketplace. The choir sang and one of my best friends did a solo which was beautiful. The Bishop then spoke to us on Lent, giving us three very practical tips for lent time
Live Simply
Pray regularly and privately
Give yourself to others
After the service, he came back to visit the school. As the head girl I was able to take him on a tour, along with my fellow head boys and girls. As we went around the school, he was really interested in talking to the pupils. He got very engaged in a debate with some of my friends who were in an ethics class about IVF! He also told us about his visits across the world, and that the best part of his job was being able to meet people and see what God was really doing in their lives, and that the worst part was all the paperwork.
Later in the day, he had requested to meet some of the people who led the Christian Union, as he had heard from our head teacher that it was very active. As a key leader I was able to meet him again, this time sharing with him what we were doing. During our Monday meeting the previous day we had taken some time as a group to pray prophetically for him and so we were able to give him a list of pictures and words which we felt God had for him. He was really touched and I think it was a really good witness that our CU is something different.
We also had a chance to ask him some questions during the ‘meeting’. He told us that he would love to see some more life brought in to the C of E with dancing, clapping, etc. He also told us that he had some very controversial views, but he failed to tell us exactly what they were! We also asked the Biblical significance of his hat. He took it out of his bag and explained to us that from the top view it resembled two tongues. This reminds him of the fire of the Holy Spirit that came at Pentecost and also reminds him that all of his authority is under the Holy Spirit. However, the best part was the fact that Lisselle was in this ‘meeting’ and at this point, he had gotten out not only his ‘normal’ hat, but also the hat which he uses for special occasions… and he let her wear it! I only wish I’d had a camera.
It was really great to be able to meet the Bishop; to get to know a little bit about him, but also to tell him what we were doing in our school. If you are praying for the Bishop, I would suggest you pray that he could be a really effective witness of Jesus Christ and to the many people that he has the chance to meet. It was also suggested that you pray for him to be bold in proclaiming the truth of the gospel, but also sensitive when broaching the tricky issues which he is constantly questioned on. And finally, I would ask that if you ever get the chance to see Lisselle in a bishop’s hat, you make sure that you have a camera handy!
Rachel Thorpe